Rob Mann

The San Francisco Business Times just published a new CRE article that has a few interesting stats: 1) San Francisco office leasing volume increased 62.8% year-over-year, the fastest nationwide. 2) AI firms have leased 6 million square feet in San Francisco and are currently seeking another 1.5 million square feet. 3) Salesforce Tower has signed 480K square feet of leases this year, with a similar amount in active negotiations. 5,000 people now enter the building daily, which is 83% of pre-pandemic levels. 4) Sublease space has dropped for eight straight quarters, hitting its lowest level since mid-2020. 5) AI roles make up 42% of all tech job postings in the Bay Area. The recovery of the office market has resulted in San Francisco having the highest apartment rent growth of any major market in the country at 6% (CoStar). I started working in San Francisco in 2010 when prices were bottoming out after the GFC. The 2010-2012 period was an exceptional buying opportunity and then in 2013 and 2014 ULI ranked SF as the top market in the country for new investment. Today feels like 2013 again. The bottom is a couple years behind us, pricing is still low but moving upward, and the market has great momentum with strong demand drivers and many years to run.